A stereomicroscope of this kind is known, for example, from EP-A2-1 120 676 and from U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,114. For better comprehension of this cited existing art, the reader is referred to FIG. 2 of EP-A2-1 120 676, which comprises in large part arrangements similar to those in FIG. 1 of the present invention. The reference numbers of EP-A2-1 120 676 have been largely carried over to the description of the present FIG. 1 and the Parts List, so that one skilled in the art can easily recognize the known assemblage as well as differences with respect to the present invention.
In the design of stereomicroscopes, it is generally desirable to keep the overall height as low as possible, on the one hand in order to minimize the eye-object distance (i.e. the distance between the observer's eye and the object being viewed), and on the other hand to achieve—in the event the stereomicroscope is used as a surgical microscope—the smallest and most compact design possible, which is also intended to have a favorable effect on moving masses.
In normal operation of a conventional stereomicroscope that is not in a pivoted position, the beam paths that pass through the main objective and the zoom are arranged approximately vertically.
The aforementioned documents of the existing art indicated as their purpose a reduction in overall height. This was achieved by means of a horizontal arrangement of the zoom. The result was to reduce both the overall height of the microscope and also the eye-object distance.
The reduction in overall height resulting from this known action is, however, limited, as is also the reduction in the eye-object distance; the question arising therefrom is whether it is not also possible to achieve a further decrease in overall height, and in particular a reduction in the eye-object distance, by means of actions other than a horizontal arrangement of the zoom.